Ahn Seong-hyun escaped arrest, but 'suspected bribery from coin listing'

The arrest warrant for actor Sung Yu-ri's husband and professional golfer Ahn Sung-hyun was dismissed while he was being investigated by the prosecution for his involvement in virtual currency listing corruption. As a result, Ahn Seong-hyun escaped the risk of being imprisoned, but it seems difficult to avoid indictment without detention as the prosecution continued its intensive investigation to the point of requesting an arrest warrant.

The Financial Investigation Department 2 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Chae Hee-man) arrested Seong-hyun Ahn on charges of receiving billions of won from a coin issuer (fraud and breach of trust under the Aggravated Punishment Act for Specific Economic Crimes) in exchange for listing the coin on the virtual currency exchange Bithumb at the end of 2021. A warrant was requested.

On the morning of the 7th, an interrogation (warrant review) of the suspect before arrest was held at the Seoul Southern District Court. Kim Ji-sook, a judge in charge of warrants, dismissed the arrest warrant, saying, “It is difficult to believe that arrest is necessary or reasonable at this stage.” In addition, it was judged that “there is room to dispute the charges, and considering the extent of evidence collection and the attitude of the statement, it is difficult to say that there is concern about the planned destruction of evidence,” and “taking into account family relationships, etc., it is difficult to say that there is a need for and reasonableness of arrest.”

Prosecutors believe that Ahn Seong-hyun took advantage of his friendship with Kang Jong-hyun, known as the actual owner of Bithumb, to take bribes. Mr. Kang Jong-hyun was tried in February on charges of embezzling 62.8 billion won in funds from Bithumb affiliates and making 35 billion won in unfair profits by manipulating stock prices from 2020 to September of last year (embezzlement under the Aggravated Punishment for Specific Economic Crimes Act and violation of the Capital Markets Act). handed over to The name of a vehicle that Jong-Hyeon Kang was driving was known to be in the name of Seong-Hyeon Ahn, attracting public attention.

At the time, Sung Yu-ri's side stated that she had no knowledge of her husband's affairs. However, last year, it was revealed that the cosmetics company run by Sung Yu-ri received an investment of 3 billion won from Bucket Studio, whose CEO is Jong-hyun Kang's younger sister. The company denied any connection with Bucket Studio, saying it had returned the investment.

Ahn Seong-hyun debuted as a professional golfer in 2005 and married Sung Yu-ri in 2017.

Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr